The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 216

[You have fulfilled the conditions to become a Sword Master.]

(You need a breakthrough to transcend your limits.)

*

A black sun, imbued with black flames, began to obscure the light above Olaf’s head.

“…”

I stared blankly at the sun hanging in the dawn sky. It wasn’t hot. Despite the blazing sun being so close, it didn’t feel hot at all.

Rather, the sun in the sky, devouring the dawn’s sun, radiated with a warmth that was almost comforting.

Just one thing.

“What… is this magic?”

For Olaf, however, that warmth manifested differently. It was a warmth he was not permitted to feel. ‘Whoosh.’ Black flames began to engulf Olaf’s body.

Starting from his arms and spreading to his torso. No matter how much he struggled to extinguish the flames, the black fire continued to consume him.

Black smoke rose.

From Olaf’s body, which was caught in a cycle of restoration and regeneration, the smell of burning flesh and his screams echoed.

“Aaaaargh!!!”

Olaf raised his axe and advanced toward the Young Lady.

Entering Phase 2, Olaf’s body, which had overcome the limits of physical endurance and aging, was incomparably stronger than before. Yet, the Young Lady didn’t even glance at him.

Though exhausted, he was undoubtedly an Apostle.

Olaf’s fully unleashed body, with its youthful vigor, should have been nearly impervious to harm. Yet, the Young Lady ignored Olaf’s overwhelming presence and instead checked on my condition.

She simply crushed Olaf with her indifference. She did nothing else.

Sitting in her wheelchair, the Young Lady reached out and caressed my cheek. As she touched the wound left by Olaf’s axe, her expression turned wistful, and she spoke to me in a hoarse voice.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“No. More than that, what is this…?”

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“Young Lady?”

The Young Lady looked at me with a wistful gaze.

The doubts blooming in my chest were lightly dismissed as she spoke to me with a touch filled with concern, as if scolding me not to break my promises.

“I told you not to get hurt.”

“I begged you not to get hurt anymore.”

“Why don’t you listen?”

The Young Lady murmured in a small voice. Muttering, “Do you know how worried I was…,” she began to slowly scatter her mana.

-Rumble…

The black sun moved.

The massive black sun, which had seemed stationary, began to rotate as if spinning on its axis. Olaf, spewing rage, advanced toward us, while the Young Lady calmly suppressed him.

Through the medium of black flames, she burned Olaf’s legs.

“I’ll kill you.”

-Crash!

When he regenerated, she burned him again.

“I’ll sever your limbs…”

-Crunch…!

As Olaf repeatedly fell, he somehow managed to approach the Young Lady from behind, axe in hand, glaring at her with a murderous gaze.

Olaf, whose upper garments had been burned away, stood in white shorts, wielding his axe. With his muscular arms, he swung the axe as if to decapitate the Young Lady in one blow.

Oddly enough, his clothes hadn’t burned.

I slowly steadied my breathing and tried to stand, intending to stop him.

-You have reached the realm of a Sword Master. └(Unleash an attack to break through your limits.)

Now, I was no longer the same as before.

Standing before a new realm, I thought I could engage Olaf in an all-out war.

But.

-Rumble…

The Young Lady didn’t allow it.

She calmly held my cheek, as if to stop me from making any move, and kept me in place.

An eye opened.

From the rotating black sun, an eye began to emerge. A small line appeared at the center of the massive sphere, slowly, ever so slightly, opening into an eye.

-Drip…

The massive sun revealed a large pupil. The half-closed eye, as if drowsy, exuded a vitality that made it seem alive.

-Drip…

The sun’s pupil moved.

It blinked once at me, who was staring up at the sky in shock. Then, it glanced at the Young Lady, who was silently glaring at Olaf. Finally, it looked at Olaf, whose hand was being consumed by black flames, and its eye widened.

-Creak…!

The massive sphere, unaffected by the clouds, opened its eye fully. Only then did I realize what this sphere truly was.

‘…Dark Magic.’

The weapon of the Young Lady, thought to have disappeared, had reappeared.

I had seen it before.

Words once spoken by the author came to mind.

[Harem Lover]: Author, is the strongest character in the story Mikhail, who awakened as a hero?

[Author]: No. At this point, Mikhail is indeed the strongest, but if the story had progressed without any incidents, the strongest would have been…

-Olivia.

A monster acknowledged by the author.

I had momentarily forgotten that the Young Lady possessed overwhelming talent in the field of magic. No, I couldn’t help but forget. I never imagined she would have talent in Dark Magic.

Because she had lost her mana, I had assumed she couldn’t use Dark Magic. That assumption had led to my mistaken judgment.

The Young Lady shattered my assumptions, overwhelming the battlefield with her immense dark mana.

-Blink.

Olaf lifted his head and met the gaze of the massive sun. Confronted by an overwhelming fear that made every muscle in his body contract, Olaf dropped the axe he held in his hand.

“This is… impossible.”

He was frozen.

The body of Olaf, a powerful Apostle, was paralyzed by the overwhelming force, unable to move. Both Olaf’s body and mine were crushed under the weight of the immense power, leaving us staring silently at the sky.

Now, the only person capable of moving on this battlefield was the Young Lady. The Young Lady, the master of this immense dark mana, opened her eyes coldly, devoid of any emotion.

“Ricardo told me not to, so I held back…”

Slowly, the Young Lady’s body began to rise from her wheelchair. As if overcoming the restriction of her immobile legs, she floated with dark mana and approached the frozen Olaf.

“Because of you, I have to break my promise.”

With a look of disdain, the Young Lady placed her hand on Olaf’s heart.

To Olaf, who had a robust physique, the Young Lady’s hand seemed small and delicate. Yet, to Olaf, who experienced it firsthand, her hand felt larger and more overwhelming than anyone else’s.

Olaf had felt this sensation only once before.

Being overwhelmed.

The feeling of having his heart gripped—he had felt it once before.

It was the same feeling he had experienced when the Pope had placed a hand on his shoulder during his appointment as an Apostle.

With trembling eyes, Olaf stared at Olivia’s hand.

“Oh, God…”

Olivia raised her head and spoke to Olaf.

“I hate you.”

“…”

“I hate you so much that I want to crush you right now.”

“…”

“So.”

In a cold voice, Olivia spoke.

With a cold voice I had never heard before, she placed her hand on Olaf’s heart and said.

“Die.”

And at that moment.

-Cough.

Blood began to flow from the Young Lady’s mouth.

*

The price of using excessive power was returning to the Young Lady.

“Cough… Cough…”

Though Olivia possessed strong Dark Mana and immense talent, her body, using Dark Magic for the first time, could not endure it.

Veins bulged on her hands.

The scent of iron lingered in her mouth.

A dizziness that felt like she might lose consciousness.

Right now, all Olivia could do was bear the price of recklessly using Dark Magic. Using unprepared power always came with consequences.

‘The one who hurt Ricardo deserves to be punished with death.’ Olivia clenched her fists, suppressing her rising anger.

But.

“Ugh… It hurts…”

Her body was not cooperating.

Seizing the opportunity, Olaf began swinging his axe. Loosening his stiffened body as if to end it all in one strike, Olaf moved swiftly, his sharp eyes fixed on his target.

“Oh God. Grant me the chance to vanquish evil.”

I caught the staggering Young Lady’s body and swung my sword.

Narrowly avoiding Olaf’s axe that aimed for an opening, I held the Young Lady tightly in my arms.

Exhaling steady breaths, the Young Lady bit her lips tightly and glared at Olaf with resentment.

“Ricardo, stay back.”

“Young Lady.”

“I… will kill him.”

I flicked the Young Lady’s forehead and gave her a small smile.

“Ack!”

Watching the Young Lady pout her lips and make a tearful face, I spoke in a low voice.

“You will have to explain yourself when we return home.”

“…”

“How long have you been hiding this from me…!”

-Clang!

“You will have to explain yourself.”

I let out a steady breath and leaned the Young Lady against the ground.

The Young Lady, struggling to breathe, heaved her shoulders as she continued to move the massive sun. It seemed this was the limit of what she could do.

Though I had many questions, it didn’t seem like the right time, so I gripped my sword and turned to Olaf to bring the battle to an end.

Olaf let out an empty laugh, brushing off the fading Black Flame, and spoke.

“If I weren’t so exhausted, I could have easily killed that woman.”

I responded to his complaints.

“That’s true.”

Olaf wasn’t wrong. If he had fought the Young Lady instead of me from the start, he would have easily claimed victory. I could acknowledge his complaints to some extent.

Still, what could be done?

In the end, Olaf was losing.

I stretched and spoke to Olaf.

“If I weren’t so soft-hearted, I would have killed you long ago.”

“More empty words from your mouth…”

I raised my sword, looking at the monster writhing in the Black Flame, and spoke.

“That monster. Isn’t it the child you brought back to life?”

“…”

“A monster resurrected through Dark Magic, the daughter you lost due to your past mistake.”

“Do you want to die?”

“No. I’m just saying I could have reduced the numbers earlier.”

Veins began to bulge on Olaf’s forehead. Angered by my clumsy provocation, he gripped his axe roughly and began walking toward me, step by step.

Watching Olaf, I spoke my final words.

“Can you not hear your daughter’s voice? I think I can hear it.”

“Shut up.”

“She’s saying it hurts.”

I spoke, looking at the monster burning in the Black Flame.

-Eeeek!.. It hurts…

“Is this truly the right thing to do?”

“…”

“Your daughter is screaming in pain, yet why have you never listened to her even once?”

It wasn’t emotional manipulation.

I was merely repeating the dialogue Yuria had spoken when she ended things with Olaf in the novel.

-Listen to your grieving daughter’s voice.

“Listen to your grieving daughter’s voice.”

-Is this truly the life your daughter desires?

“Is this truly the life your daughter desires?”

-Your young daughter, who still adores you despite being used as a tool… Why!

“Your daughter, enduring endless pain, still follows and respects you. Judging her as incurable, interpreting her suffering, and subjecting her to endless torment—why?”

With a calm wave of emotions bidding farewell, I raised my sword. And this was my final statement as a possessor who had witnessed Olaf’s flashback.

“Your daughter, who couldn’t even harm a butterfly, is crying. Isn’t she?”

-Father… Father…

“Atone.”

“Not to the God you prayed to so desperately, but to your daughter.”

The sword, imbued with a brilliant Red Aura, shone brightly. As the flash of light filled the battlefield, my sword finally touched Olaf’s neck.

-You have reached the realm of a Sword Master.